Families of all shapes, sizes join together to support adoption in Utah

The Utah Adoption Council sponsors the eighth annual Adoption Walk With Me event at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013. The walk was in anticipation of National Adoption Month in November.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Summary

Families brought together by adoption walked around Liberty Park Saturday, celebrating togetherness and hope for more adoptions.

SALT LAKE CITY — Families brought together by adoption walked around Liberty Park on Saturday, celebrating togetherness and hope for more adoptions.

The Utah Adoption Council sponsors the Walk With Me 5k every year in anticipation of National Adoption Month in November. The organization, a nonprofit which was formed in 1981 to help lighten the load of the foster care system, hosts the event to drum up support for families waiting to grow, as well as those who have already been blessed by the addition of a new baby or child.

Birth parents, adoptive parents, adoptees, adoption agencies, adoption attorneys and community support groups were all part of the action Saturday, hoping to educate the community about adoption and promote awareness and understanding.

Nearly 20,000 domestic infants are placed for adoption each year in the United States, according to the council.